Russia Doctored Photos in Shooting Down of Airliner, Report Finds

[Little Tich]

Source: ABC News

A new independent report finds that Russia doctored photos to implicate the Ukrainian military in the shooting down of the Malaysian airliner MH17 last July, casting doubt on Russian claims that neither separatists armed by Russia nor its own military were to blame for the disaster.

The report is the latest by the independent analysis group, Bellingcat, which has been using open source material -- often video and photos posted on social media -- to provide hard evidence that Russia has been sending troops and weapons into eastern Ukraine to support rebels there, despite denials from the Kremlin.

MH17 was shot out of the air on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers on board. Most experts say the plane was most likely struck by a Buk anti-aircraft missile, a type commonly used by Ukrainian and Russian forces.

Shortly after the crash, Russia's defense ministry presented satellite images it said showed Buk missile launchers belonging to Ukraine's army near the eastern city of Donetsk in the days around the shooting-down, meant to imply that the Ukrainian army had hit the plane.
After 30 pages of analysis, Bellingcat says "unequivocally" that these images have been digitally altered so as to falsely appear that they were taken in the days around the crash. The photos were actually taken in the first half of June, the report says.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/russia-doctored-photos-shooting-airliner-report-finds/story?id=31432913

[GGJohn]

1. Well, surprise, surprise, surprise. eom.

[Duckhunter935]

2. Well no surprise there

I am sure RT will be along to explain it any time now.

[7962]

3. Either them or our resident russian "experts"!

[Duckhunter935]

4. the funny thing is they

go into hiding when things like this are posted.

[cstanleytech]

6. One said to me "no treaty exists recognizing Ukrainian control over the Crimean peninsula."

I then pointed out the "Kharkiv Pact"

[Blue_Tires]

5. Where are DU's Putin cheerleaders NOW?

And Robert Parry is long overdue for publishing a full retraction of that bullshit story...

[Duckhunter935]

7. Crickets

[imthevicar]

10. Who Paid for the

Experts?

[Adrahil]

33. There we go! It was starting to feel lonely! n/t

[KoKo]

9. You've missed Parry's Latest....and be sure to check out "Belling Cat." n/t

[Duckhunter935]

11. here is the response

Showing how Perry lied and is wrong

[PersonNumber503602]

18. Wow. Did Parry every respond to this?

*edit*
Found his reply: https://consortiumnews.com/2015/05/26/more-video-fakery-on-mh-17/

*edit 2*
After reading Parry's piece, I took a closer look, and I don't think I'm buying what he's saying. Although I may be allowing my own biases to dictate what I see, but I'm pretty sure I can see the house he says isn't there.

[7962]

31. Wow, I never saw that! Great clip. nt

[Blue_Tires]

12. Yeah, Parry has gone way off the deep end...Even by his standard

[Cha]

20. Good question.. before I got here I expected to "foul!" from them. Oh, nevermind.. they're below.

Must protect Vladdy at all costs.

[groundloop]

34. Yep, they were a bit late but the certainly didn't disappoint.

[Cha]

35. Putin's troopers don't believe any facts about him but are/were quick to suck up RT.. haven't seen

that "news"/propaganda source lately. Not that I'm missing anything.

[KoKo]

8. You do know who "Bellingcat" is don't you? ABC Reports "Bellingcat."

Anyone who uses their preferred Search can find for themselves. 's

[Little Tich]

13. I watched the Australian version of 60 Minutes that pointed out Russia as being complicit

in the downing of MH17.

The Bellingcat report seems to confirm it, and it's being reported in main stream media. Are you going after the message or the messenger?

[jakeXT]

16. Nato's SACEUR did promote him

Crowd sourcing is another innovative way to track Russian forces and equipment in #Ukraine. #Russia goo.gl/f9GCfC
10:36 AM - 9 Feb 2015


https://mobile.twitter.com/pmbreedlove/status/564855335627018242

[BeanMusical]

14. It's now very easy to doctor photos...

But it is also easier than ever to analyze and prove that some pictures have been modified. Anyone with a couple of years of experience with Photoshop can debunk a modified photo. This whole thing is really tragic.

[FairWinds]

15. Damn!! You 'Uns Got It Right !!

We Just Got to have more war !!

Middle East, Central Europe, and Jeebus don't forget
the Pivot to Aisa (i.e., war with China too)

Yep, that is just the ticket.

So y'all are going to pick up a gun and head over there
to fight, right?

Or were you planning on sending one of my kids or
grand kids off to do you dirty work for you?

[Hmmm, some of you never post unless it's to try to stir up
a war somewhere . . coincidence?]

Veterans For Peace

[Eko]

22. I dont see anyone here advocating for war.

Sometimes the truth is important to people.

[7962]

32. Yes, allow Russia to frame another country with no comment. THAT"LL stop war. nt

[NuclearDem]

42. Remember, calling Russia on their bullshit is advocating for war with Russia.

Also, don't forget to eat your pencil shavings, and always remember to spit into the wind.

[PersonNumber503602]

17. Am I overlooking the evidence being presented in the article?

If it's just not there, then wtf? I haven't tried looking for it elsewhere yet, but that really should be included with the article. We shouldn't have to go hunt it down ourselves, and I'm not going to just take someones word for it.

[Man from Pickens]

19. Can't believe anyone would take "Bellingcat" seriously

same folks who tried to lie us into war in Syria, now trying to foment war in Ukraine

[coyote]

21. If they say it´s doctored, then it´s got to be true

Our government would never lie to us.

[Eko]

23. If you think CNN is the government,

then you are deep into conspiracy land.

[Igel]

36. It's a very Russian point of view.

After all, for most of the lifespan of most Russians the media was the mouthpiece of the government and to a large extent is so heavily filtered that in many ways it is again.

The original deal under Putin was that if you left politics and the economy to the government what happened in the social and cultural sphere was going to be left alone. That's how the media reported it: If they opined on matters political or had a decided non-approved economic stance they were harrassed. The greater the deviation from official policy, the greater the harrassment.

That's changed in the last few years. Authoritarians are seldom content with limits, even self-imposed limits.

[Caspian Morgan]

40. Look at this as an example of lies we are being told.

That's USA Today caught outright lying and feeding readers propaganda about the rebels in Ukraine.

[MattSh]

24. Bellingcat is independent?

The blogger Elliot Higgins (of Bellingcat fame) conveys an image of a goody chap…

…who lives somewhere in a modest flat and spends all his time to find out the truth behind the headlines, by merely using his brain, laptop and internet connection. A fine pro bono example of civic journalism in action. Every now and then he tears himself away from his laptop screen to feed his cat, rock the cradle of his third child or go to the supermarket to buy coffee and a can of soup and pays for it with coins, not bank notes. Elliot Higgins has one passion in life and that is the truth and people in general are more inclined to believe a British nerd than representatives of the Ukrainian secret service or the CIA.

And all the mainstream media in the world are using his ‘research’ to add credibility to their own news casting, because the MSM realize very well that the internet is used by many as an alternative source of information with a reputation that on the internet ‘real unfiltered information’ can be found. Higgins claims that he gets his modest funds via crowd sourcing, a method recommended by none other than NATO chieftain Philippe Breedlove:



Right.

Let’s cut the crap. Higgins is not an unconnected loner with a strange hobby at all. He is part of the The London Project Investigation media network, a partnership of hackers and journalists of the Financial Times. Additionally there exists ties to the much greater OCCRP, The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Officially a research project concerning organized crime, but in reality an anti-Russian information database. The OCCRP is sponsored by organisations as the The Open Society of the speculator George Soros.

Another sponsor is the very governmental US NGO and CIA front US Aid.

Complete story at - https://deepresource.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/whats-a-bellingcat-anyway/

[Eko]

25. Funny,

the exact same article is on russia insider. http://russia-insider.com/en/whats-bellingcat-anyway/ri7522

[MattSh]

27. Meaning?

[Eko]

28. Meaning that Russian media

is controlled by their government in a fashion that pales to any comparison with our media and government.

[MattSh]

30. Oooh, it has Russia in its name...

so it must be located in Russia and under control of the Russian government.

It couldn't possibly be about Russia and done somewhere else, now could it? Because Russia would never let any website with the word Russia in it's name be located anywhere else.

[Eko]

39. Go to the about page.

"It was started in September 2014 by a group of expats living in Russia who felt that coverage of Russia is biased and inaccurate."

[Caspian Morgan]

41. I believe that Russia Insider was started by a US citizen Charles Bausman

who's father used to be the Moscow head of the Associated Press back in the 70's. http://russia-insider.com/en/users/charles_bausman

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/expats-launch-new-site-to-defend-russia#.uexqodd7Yv

[Adrahil]

38. Do you think the Ukrainians shot down the airliner?

Coming from BEHIND them?

Maybe you think it was a nefarious false flag operation.

Or Occam's Razor applies and the Russo-rebels fucked up and shot down what they thought was a military transport, just like all the evidence suggests.

[MattSh]

26. And even more about Brown/Higgins/Bellingcat

There Goes the Guardian, Lying About Ukraine…Again! » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Not only should The Guardian’s reporting be scrutinized, but so too should their darling “expert” blogger Eliot Higgins, aka Brown Moses, the author of this inconclusive “conclusive report.”

Fifty Shades of Brown

Aside from the deceptive language and misleading statements, there is a broader issue that must be addressed, namely the reliability of the source of this so called study. Perhaps first we should dispense with the use of the term “study” as that would imply experts using objective facts, data, etc. Rather, what we are dealing with is a politically motivated report by a source that has already been discredited numerous times.

The report comes from an organization called Bellingcat, purportedly an independent citizen journalism platform that uses social media and other open source information to draw conclusions about everything from military hardware movements to the firing of missiles and artillery. Of course it should immediately raise questions that The Guardian’s article is co-authored by one Eliot Higgins, a self-proclaimed “military expert” who founded the “Brown Moses” blog. Why is this important? Because Bellingcat is a creation of the same Eliot Higgins. Indeed, Bellingcat’s Kickstarter page made no secret of the fact that “Bellingcat is a website founded by Brown Moses…the pseudonym for Eliot Higgins, a laid-off government worker turned blogger turned weapons analysis expert and leading source of information on the conflict in Syria.”

A close look at some of the blurbs noted on the Kickstarter page reveals that this “independent blogger” has been touted by The Guardian, Deutsche Welle, UK’s Channel 4, The Daily Beast, and many other corporate media outlets. Anyone with an understanding of how hard it is to actually be an independent analyst knows that such establishment outlets do not simply promote independent media that provides thoughtful analysis. Rather, Brown Moses and Bellingcat have been seized upon as a convenient foil to true alternative media, spinning the establishment narrative under the guise of “independent reporting.” However, let us not simply deride this obvious sham. Let us evaluate Brown Moses’ own record, which for an “expert” is dismal.

Higgins aka Brown Moses aka BM claimed to have proven that the chemical weapons attack on Ghouta, Syria on August 21, 2013 could only have been carried out by the Syrian military and government. His claims are based on his own “expert” analysis of missile trajectories and other “evidence” he claims to have obtained through videos and other open source information. Of course, in making this claim, Higgins places himself in direct opposition to former UN weapons inspector Richard Lloyd and Prof. Theodore Postel of MIT, the authors of an actual report from the MIT Science, Technology, and Global Security Working Group entitled “Possible Implications of Faulty US Technical Intelligence in the Damascus Nerve Agent Attack of August 21, 2013.” The report, conducted by real experts, not armchair bloggers, concluded that the Syrian government could not have carried out the attack, and that such intelligence was nearly used as justification for yet another aggressive war.

Complete story at - http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/20/the-guardian-lying-about-ukraine-again/

[Eko]

29. Something about a news org using its own links to prove something smells like a fox.

Now of course we know that The Guardian has repeatedly been taken to task by highly respected journalists and analysts for its biased and one-sided reporting of issues ranging from its coverage of Russian President Putin and Russia’s actions in Crimea, to its shamefully biased (here, here and here for three of the many examples) coverage of Israel-Palestine conflict, and a number of other important issues.
1st example is http://electronicintifada.net who is "The Guardian of Zionism: The “Liberal” Press and its Missing Contexts" from their own site.
2nd example is counterpunch, their own site.
3rd is rt.com, a Russian site.

I argue that that is in no way proof of "repeatedly been taken to task by highly respected journalists and analysts for its biased and one-sided reporting of issues ranging from its coverage of Russian President Putin and Russia’s actions in Crimea".

[geek tragedy]

37. What, the Russian government and its lickspittle fascist assworm apologists

proven to be full of shit yet again?

Never saw that one coming.

[reorg]

43. Actual experts call BS

Even though Der Spiegel was among the first who trumpeted the latest findings of this 'independent' 'report', their follow-up seems less enthusing to the true believers:

Bellingcat engages in coffee cup reading (Kaffeesatzleserei (in German))

Actually, anybody who has read the 'report' already knew it's BS. 'Photo forensics' my ass, these 'researchers' don't even understand the method they were (ab)using.

Yeah... chalk this up as a "how to not do image analysis".

is what the originator of the method and provider of the website had to say.

'I have a tutorial about that sort of thing: http://t.co/zsRHlU5PMU See #4, #5, and then #3.' says Dr. Neal Kravetz.)

Cool website, though: http://fotoforensics.com/

I just did a number of 'error-level analyses' myself on those pictures of the Russian military. (You just upload the picture and look for some suspicious bright- or dark-colored areas, easy! And make sure not to read the tutorial: Common Analysis Mistakes).


Here is a concise and readable analysis of the 'report': About Bellingcat’s claim: “Russian sat pics fake”

[Little Tich]

44. So basically, without the originals, it's impossible to spot if the pics were doctored...

I still put my money on that pro-Russian terrorists shot down MH17.